page_title: John McDonnell
section_title: Heathrow Airport expansion
hierarchical_section_title: John McDonnell / Member of Parliament (1997–present) / Heathrow Airport expansion
caption_attribution_description: John McDonnell and Residents and supporters of Grow Heathrow outside Central London County Court. Photo by Jonathan Goldberg
context_page_description: John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, serving as the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. He served as the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 to 2020.
  He served as chair of the Socialist Campaign Group in Parliament and Labour Representation Committee; McDonnell also chaired the Public Services Not Private Profit Group. He is also parliamentary convenor of the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group of eight left-wing trade unions representing over half a million workers. McDonnell attempted to stand for the position of Labour Party leader following Tony Blair's resignation in 2007, but failed to get enough nominations. He was a candidate for the party leadership again in 2010 following Gordon Brown's resignation after Labour's electoral defeat, but withdrew in favour of Diane Abbott, feeling that he would be unable to secure enough nominations.
  Following his election as Labour leader in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn appointed McDonnell as his Shadow Chancellor. Alongside Corbyn, McDonnell has been seen as a key figure on the left-wing of the party.
context_section_description: McDonnell has been a vocal opponent of plans to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway—the proposed site lies within his constituency. During a debate on the expansion of the airport on 15 January 2009, he was suspended for five days by Deputy Speaker Alan Haselhurst after disrupting Commons proceedings. McDonnell picked up the ceremonial mace and placed it down on an empty bench in the Commons while shouting that the lack of a vote on the third runway was "a disgrace to the democracy of this country."
caption: McDonnell with opponents of the Heathrow Airport expansion outside Central London County Court, 2012
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